1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for applying articles to containers, and more particularly to a high speed apparatus adapted to apply labels and/or leaflets to containers such as pharmaceutical bottles in a continuous through-put manner.
2. The Prior Art
Several types of apparatus for applying labels to containers, bottles and the like are known and in common use. One type of apparatus employs labels that are cut, stacked in a hopper and fed to a label applicator mechanism that holds each label for a period of time and then applies the label to a container which is fed to the applicator. Typically, the containers are fed to the applicator in an upright position and the entire label cutting and label and container feeding procedure is effected in an intermittent motion or stop-start manner to insure the accurate application of the labels. Unfortunately, such apparatus suffer from several shortcomings such as the curling and sticking of cut labels, variable label size and problems associated with the verification of many loose individual labels. The verification problems are especially troublesome in the pharmaceutical packaging industry. Another shortcoming with the described apparatus is that its stop-start mode of operation is time wasteful and thus not as efficient or desirable.
Another type of known labelling apparatus employs rolls of web material from which individual labels are cut and then fed and applied to containers. Known apparatus of this type, however, also suffer from the shortcoming of operating in the inefficient stop-start mode with the articles to be labelled being fed to the label applicator in the upright position. In addition, known apparatus of this type which are used in the pharmaceutical packing industry, typically include label verification mechanisms that inefficiently shut down the apparatus upon detection of a single unverified label, even though that label might be atypical of the rest of the roll. For example, it is known to use punched holes for label verification marks, and with such a system, it is not uncommon for the verification holes to be incompletely punched. In such a situation, known verifying means, which verify each individual label, would detect the incompletely punched label as an unverified label and generate a signal effecting machine shut down, even though the particular label detected as unverified, and the remaining roll of labels, are in fact correct.
As indicated above, in addition to a labelling apparatus, the present invention relates to an apparatus that is adapted to apply leaflets, as well as labels, to containers. Such provision is particularly applicable in the sales of pharmaceuticals, where governing United States Food and Drug Administration regulations require that a leaflet, known as a package insert or outsert, which contains information such as dosages, administration, precautions, etc., be distributed with each pharmaceutical product sold to pharmacists. Some pharmaceutical companies attempt to satisfy this requirement by merely including a group of loose leaflets within the carton of products sold. This is undesirable, however, because pharmaceutical companies typically sell their products through wholesalers and distributors, who in turn must then sort the loose leaflets to make sure that the correct leaflet is provided with its corresponding product container when it is sold to a pharmacist. Other pharmaceutical companies package each product container in an individual carton and insert a loose leaflet in each carton. This, too, is undesirable, in that it increases the cost of packaging, and because pharmacists are likely to store the product sans carton (and leaflet) for space-saving reasons.
Some pharmaceutical companies attempt to avoid these problems by gluing each leaflet to its corresponding product container. Other companies attach the leaflets to containers by means of a shrinkable plastic film member which encloses the product container and leaflet. In both types of affixation; however, the leaflet is loose and subject to loss once it has been removed from the container.
It is clear that it would be very desirable to have, and it is the broad object of the present invention to provide, a high speed apparatus that is adapted to apply labels and/or leaflets to containers in a continuous through-put single run operation. The specific objects of the present invention are as follows:
To provide a high speed apparatus for applying labels to containers in a continuous through-put operation;
to provide a high speed apparatus for folding leaflets and applying the leaflets to containers in a continuous through-put operation, the leaflets being applied so that they may be readily re-affixed to the container after having been removed therefrom;
to provide a high speed apparatus for folding leaflets and applying the leaflets, as well as labels to containers in a continuous, through-put single pass operation whereby the labels and leaflets are applied to opposite faces of the containers;
to provide a high speed apparatus for applying labels and/or leaflets to containers in a continuous single run operation, the apparatus having verification means for shutting down the machine only after it is determined that the machine has not been loaded with the correct labels, while still assuring that only correctly labeled containers are released for distribution.